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ABS-CBN
ABS–CBN Corporation (PSE: ABS and ABSP; ABS-CBN: "Alto Broadcasting System-Chronicle Broadcasting Network") is a Philippine-based multi-media conglomerate. It is the country's first and largest integrated media and entertainment company[2] with 42 subsidiaries, 12 divisions and an asset base on more than PHP34 billion (US$707.09 million) as of March 2009.[3] ABS-CBN is principally involved in television and radio broadcasting, as well as the production of television programming for domestic and international audiences and other related businesses.[4][5] It was founded on June 13, 1946 (62), becoming Asia's first commercial television broadcaster in 1953. It is part of the Lopez Group of Companies. It also broadcasts content to the rest of the world through The Filipino Channel (via cable), TFC Direct (direct-to-home satellite), TFCko (IPTV video on demand) and TFCnow internet TV. And just recently, SkyBroadband and Bayan DSL launched "i Wantv!", a free internet service created to answer the growing demand of television entertainment. It incorporates some of ABS-CBN's top rating shows.[6] The network's main broadcast facilities, news headquarters, transmitter and satellite operations and studio complex are located at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Complex at Sgt. Esguerra Ave., Mother Ignacia St., Barangay Laging Handa, Diliman, Quezon City. In Metro Manila, its terrestrial VHF station is Channel 2 (DWWX-TV) while its terrestrial UHF station is Studio 23 (DWAC-TV). It boasts its technical capabilities as well as its advance and sophisticated facilities that no other media company in Southeast Asia has to offer. History 'Origins' The nucleus of what ABS-CBN would be began in 1946 with Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC). BEC was put up by James Lindenberg, the father of Philippine television9, an ex-GI and electronics engineer who went into radio equipment assembly and radio broadcasting. At that time, the giant Philippine network was Manila Broadcasting, with DZRH as the top station. In 1949, James Lindenberg shifted Bolinao to radio broadcasting with DZBC and masterminded the introduction of television to the country in 1953. In 1951, Lindenberg partnered with Antonio Quirino, brother of then President Elpidio Quirino, in order to try their hand at television broadcasting. In 1952, BEC was renamed as Alto Broadcasting System or ABS. "Alto" was a contraction of Quirino’s and his wife’s first names, Tony and Aleli. Though they had little money and resources, ABS was able to put up its TV tower by July 1953 and import 300 television sets. The initial test broadcasts began on September of the same year. The very first full-blown broadcast, however, was on October 23, 1953, of a party in Tony Quirino's home. The broadcasting channel was known as DZAQ-TV Channel 3. 'Merger' In turn, on September 24, 1956, the Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN) was organized. The network was owned by Don Eugenio Lopez Sr. The following year, Don Eugenio acquired ABS from Quirino and Lindenberg. However, it was only on February 1, 1967 that the corporate name was changed to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation (before it was named ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the name was reverted back to the precursor of the network, Bolinao Electronics Corporation or BEC). In the late 1950s, Don Eugenio's son, Geny Lopez saw the potential of TV to reach and link Filipinos across the archipelago. By the mid-1960s, the ABS network was leading the radio industry, with stations like DZXL and DZAQ Radyo patrol, which featured journalists like Ernie Baron, Bong Lapira, Orly Mercado, Joe Taruc, Mario Garcia, Bobby Guanzon, and Rey Langit. ABS also made breakthroughs in the TV industry by achieving the country's first color TV broadcast, first satellite feed, and first use of videotape, among others. It featured top shows then, such as Your Evening with Pilita and Tawag ng Tanghalan, the country's first comedy show Buhay Artista, first Philippine gameshow, What's My Living and the first noontime show Student Canteen, among others. On June 14, 1961, Eugenio Lopez, Jr. built the first provincial TV station in Cebu airing 4 hours with the tallest tower (in that time) in Cebu measuring 216 feet. Two years later, the network's first test color broadcasts began. Color broadcasts started in 1967, the first in the Philippines and Southeast Asia as the network was tagged as the First in Color Television, with full color broadcasting beginning in 1971 at all national television stations. On December 18, 1968, ABS-CBN opened its new Broadcast Center on Bohol Avenue, Quezon City, where it still stands today. At the time, it was the most advanced facility of its kind in Asia. The station again made breakthroughs by using live satellite transmissions from abroad, foremost of which was the first moon landing in 1969. The network enjoyed a big portion of the ratings. 'Martial Law era' The station suffered a setback, though, upon the declaration of Martial Law. On midnight of September 22, 1972, a day after the declaration of Martial Law, ABS-CBN and its affiliate stations were seized. Geny Lopez, the president of the network, was imprisoned and held without trial for five years until he and his cellmate Sergio Osmeña III launched a daring jailbreak in 1977 and sought asylum in the United States. The network itself was taken over by Roberto Benedicto, a presidential crony, who used the Broadcasting Center at Bohol Avenue, then renamed as "Broadcast Plaza", as the home of MBS-4. 'Capture of Broadcast Plaza (MBS-4)' At the height of the People Power Revolution, military reformists, believing that television would be a powerful tool to aid the revolution, attacked and took over the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center. On February 24, former ABS-CBN talents put the station back on the air and televised the drama of the unfolding uprising, thereby contributing to the strength of the revolt. 'Growth' On February 28, 1986, after the Marcos regime was brought to its end by the revolution, Geny Lopez returned to the country after his self exile to the United States and started rebuilding what was left of the station. Recovery was difficult and resources were low. Hence, former ABS-CBN employee Freddy García was brought in to rework the station's programming. By 1988, ABS-CBN had regained its foothold in Philippine TV ratings. In 1987, ABS-CBN also beefed up their news programs with TV Patrol, anchored by a team of announcers led by future Vice-President Noli de Castro. (Its original lead anchors included de Castro, Mel Tiangco, Frankie Evangelista, and Angelique Lazo, with the late Ernie Baron telling the daily weather newscast.) Other reputable news programs followed, such as Magandang Gabi, Bayan and Hoy Gising! and top-rating talk shows like Mel & Jay and Teysi ng Tahanan. The entertainment programs of ABS-CBN were also beefed up with a mix of programs that aired previously on RPN-9 and IBC-13 (Eat Bulaga!, Okey Ka Fairy Ko!, The Sharon Cuneta Show, Coney Reyes on Camera) while producing homegrown shows through the years that made an impact on Filipino viewers (The Maricel Soriano Drama Special, Palibhasa Lalake, Home Along Da Riles, etc.) In 1989, ABS-CBN shifted to satellite broadcast, enabling the entire country to watch the same programs simultaneously. Slowly, the station inched its way to financial recovery, which it achieved by 1990. It regularly garnered around 70% of the market. According to their website, they reach 97% of all households in the country and provide content for Studio 23 on UHF and for the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), Hero, MYX, Knowledge Channel, Lifestyle Network, Cinema One, Balls, Velvet, and Maxxx on cable. 'Expansion' Aside from its flagship terrestrial network ABS-CBN 2 Manila, ABS-CBN broadcasts to many predominantly Filipino people in the Middle East, United States, Europe, Australia and several other countries via The Filipino Channel or TFC. The network has also diversified into film (Star Cinema - ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc.), music recording (Star Records), publishing (ABS-CBN Publishing), and interactive media (ABS-CBN Interactive). In August 2008 it inked a deal with Sorenson Pacific Broadcasting to broadcast news and other content from the network and its sister channels to its television and radio broadcasting properties in Guam and The CMNI. Former ABS-CBN president Eugenio Lopez III became chairman of the network since 1996. The network has also introduced its second terrestrial channel, Studio 23 (UHF band) in 1996, as well as cable channels MYX (a music channel), ABS-CBN News Channel (a cable news channel), CinemaOne Global/Cinema One (a cable movie channel), the Lifestyle Network (home and lifestyle channel), Pinoy Central TV (regionally produced shows. This channel was replaced by Kapamilya Channel), Hero (the country's first Tagalog-dubbed anime channel, ANIMAX's only known competitor in Southeast Asia), DZMM TeleRadyo (the country's first interactive TV on Radio) and Knowledge Channel (all educational channel). Recently in the first quarter of 2008 three additional cable channels namely Balls (Sports Channel), Velvet (women's Channel) and Maxxx (all men focus channel). The network's radio stations include DZMM 630 kHz (AM-Manila), DWRR 101.9 (FM-Manila), and My Only Radio regional FM stations. ABS-CBN has established regional stations and news bureaus to handle operations in different areas throughout the Philippines. It also broadcasts to locations all over the world via The Filipino Channel, managed by ABS-CBN International. Shows are also available for live viewing and subscription via the Internet through ABS-CBN Interactive's TFCNow! service. ABS-CBN affirms its social responsibility in its slogan, "In the Service of the Filipino", and through the work of ABS-CBN Foundation. Through multimedia, the foundation has delivered E-TV (Educational Television) VCDs to hundreds of public schools in the country that benefitted students. The foundation is also the umbrella organization of such foundations such as the Knowledge Channel (KCh) Foundation, Bantay Bata (Children's Watch), Bantay Kalikasan (Environment Watch), and ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation (formerly, ABS-CBN Bayan MicroFinance). Geny Lopez died in 1999 due to cancer. 'The Kapamilya network' In 2003, during the television station's 50th anniversary, ABS-CBN launched its present slogan, "Kapamilya" (literally means "a member of the family"). Its international unit ABS-CBN Global Ltd. plans to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) the following year and might list on the Singapore Stock Exchange to help finance its expansion plans.10 The network celebrated its golden anniversary in 2003. The network held its Kapamilya Homecoming, which gathered over 4,000 former employees and talents for a grand reunion at ABS-CBN’s compound in Bohol Avenue, Quezon City. The network also launched a promo called "Treasure Hunt", where the people were invited to bring their oldest television, radio sets, microphones, and posters. The network also celebrated its 16th year reign in the TV ratings, with 13 of their shows included in the Top 15 daily programs in TV. ABS-CBN also launched new shows such as the then phenomenal Meteor Garden etc. The company also did a nationwide caravan, showcasing the network's talents. On October 2003, the network held a month-long celebration of ABS-CBN and Philippine TV's 50th year.11 The station produced two commemorative documentaries about the station's contribution in news and entertainment. Sa Mata ng Balita encapsulated some of the most unforgettable, most remarkable, and most celebrated landmarks of the last 50 years as captured by television news. 50 Taong Ligawan: The Pinoy TV History, on the other hand, was the first extensive television documentary done about the history of Philippine Television and the evolution of Philippine entertainment. For the celebration's finale, the broadcasting giant capped its 50th anniversary with a spectacular extravaganza dubbed as Kapamilya: ABS-CBN at 50,12 held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. It was hailed as one of the biggest media events of the year. The Lopez-led network rolled out the red carpet to welcome its high-profile guests from the business, advertising and media sectors, politics, members of the diplomatic community, with many of the society’s luminaries and glitterati. Valued friends and supporters of the network throughout the five decades also attended the grand affair. The network's official 50 Years station id won an Award for Excellence in the 2004 Golden Quill Festival. On November 7, 2006, ABS-CBN unveiled its flagship coffeetable book, "Kapitan: Geny Lopez and the Making of ABS-CBN." The 453-page book chronicles the hardships and odds that the network founder had to face, as well as the achievements and contributions of ABS-CBN in Philippine Television history.1314 The book won various awards, including Best Biography/Autobiography in the 26th National Book Awards,15 and a merit award in the publications category of the 2007 Gold Quill Awards.16 On September 29, 2007, ABS-CBN acquired the exclusive rights to the whole movie library of the late Fernando Poe, Jr., after Susan Roces signed the contract. ABS-CBN Chairman Eugenio Lopez III, Cory Vidanes, Senior Vice President of TVP Production (currently the Channel 2 Head), and Poe’s daughter Grace Poe-Llamanzares were present.17 'ABS-CBN 55 years' In 2008, ABS-CBN celebrated their 55th year in television. For the first time in Philippine TV History, ABS-CBN started the year by launching three primetime shows namely Lobo, Palos and Kung Fu Kids last January 28, 2008. ABS-CBN also launched Walang Iwanan sa BayaniJuan in June 12, 2008 incoincedence with the celebration of 110th Philippine Independence. On April 26, 2009, ABS-CBN is the only media organization to be cited as one of the country's top 15 listed companies in corporate governance, as shown by an annual survey of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).18 It is the only media company to garner a score of 90 percent or higher in the 2008 Corporate Governance Scorecard, a survey of corporate governance practices among 172 publicly-listed companies in the country.18 Programming Main article: List of programs broadcast by ABS-CBN] Branding of ABS-CBN The ABS-CBN logo features three main elements, the vertical line rooted on a horizontal origin, the three extending circles, and the text ABS-CBN. The vertical line or bar represents a tower (broadcasting tower), with the circles symbolizing its signals representing the red, green and blue or RGB colors which makes up a pixel shown on the television. The 3 divisions of the Philippines, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, are also denoted by the three circles. ABS-CBN was once used the logo with ABS on top and CBN on the bottom, meaning the broadcasting corporations owned by two different families, the Quirino-owned ABS and the Lopez-owned CBN. Three circles, from the past years having no color variety, represent the three main islands of the Philippines, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. While the vertical bar represent the ABS-CBN TV tower. The whole logo is boxed, meaning ABS-CBN connects all the islands of the country with one family. Then, the latter years, ABS-CBN launched The Filipino Channel, making the ABS-CBN logo unboxed, and represented as ABS-CBN is not only for the Filipinos inside, but also outside of the country. Merging the two stations, ABS and CBN, with one owner, the Lopez family, the ABS-CBN logo now uses "ABS-CBN", instead of having ABS and CBN, in one variation, situated on the bottom of the logo. ''' Sarimanok' The Sarimanok, a legendary bird in Philippine Folklore was first used in 1966 to identify color broadcasts (somewhat similar on how the NBC peacock has been utilized). In 1993, which happens to be the Chinese Year of the Rooster, ABS-CBN relaunched the Sarimanok with a new station ID featuring the legendary bird. The Sarimanok ID became utmostly associated with the channel that ABS-CBN opted it to become the station's mascot. Incidentally, ABS-CBN named its new 24-hour news channel the Sarimanok News Network, the precursor of the ABS-CBN News Channel. 'The evolution of ABS-CBN logos''' In the Year 2000, ABS-CBN had changed its corporate logo. The previous logo, which featured stylized letters and a square with three concentric circles and a line gave way to the present logo's styling. The three circles with colors, red, green, blue with the vertical line at the center still remain, although the logotype has changed and the square is no longer used in some uses of the logo. Manila Bulletin * Manila Bulletin Category:ABS-CBN Category:Philippine television network